Phantoms in the Machine
by Emzorz
Summary: Tony Stark and Reed Richards try to build a portal to Asgard. They miss Asgard by a dimension.
1. Chapter 1

My first Fanfiction in 5 years, it could all end in tears.

Avenging the Phantom

"I'm telling you Reed, the angle's all wrong," said Tony for the fourth time. He folded his arms and stared up at the huge expensive-looking machine.

"No offense Tony but when it comes to matters like this I prefer to trust my own judgement," said Reed, tapping away on a computer behind him.

"Bet you wouldn't be saying that to Hank."

"That's because the 'matters' I'm talking about are these conversations with you." Tony allowed himself a smile.

"I still think the angle's wrong," he announced yet again. This time Reed Richards ignored him completely.

On the opposite side of the chamber a door slid open and Thor stepped through, raising his arms. "How goes the work my friends?"

"Other than Reed completely ignoring me, not bad Thor, not bad," said Tony. He gestured to the machine. "We're almost ready to give it a test run."

"Shall I fetch my good armour?" queried Thor. Reed stretched around his chair, extending his arms all the way to the controls at the base of the machine, some 8 feet away. He looked like blue bubblegum, stretched between someone's fingers.

"Not yet Thor," said Reed, "we're not ready for living test subjects. We won't even know if we have the right dimension for another day or so." Thor frowned, unimpressed by the lack of action. "but you're welcome to stay and see the switch on."

"Nay, dear friend," said Thor, "I have things I must get back to." Tony knew an excuse when he heard one but he said nothing. Thor left, his heavy footsteps echoing around the chamber's metal walls.

"I bet if I said we were making a magical road out of stardust he'd want to stay," said Tony in a dry tone. Reed said nothing, apparently not bothered either way.

"Okay, let's get this started," said Reed.

"All right," said Tony. "Jarvis, initiate sequence B6 S18."

The machine itself was an impressive looking thing. To one side was a set of stairs on to the main platform. Around the centre was a huge arch, about 15 feet in height and jutting out from around the platform were odd metal rods topped by green crystals.

Just inches from Tony's hand was the small laser which had been the subject of their disagreement. It would be an easy enough thing to reach out and adjust it. Then tony shook his head, it wasn't worth the argument. Besides, they had been talking in millimetres, a measurement too precise to get right with his hand alone.

"All right, here we go," said Reed. There was a low hum that began to build in pitch and volume. All around the platform the crystals began to glow with a faint light. And that was it. The hum didn't go any louder and the crystals stayed faint.

"Shouldn't this, you know, be doing more?" queried Tony. He had been expecting a big light show but it hadn't appeared. Reed's arms were stretched to opposite sides of the room, his fingers working furiously at multiple controls. Something wasn't right.

...

Just as Tony and Reed were starting their first test run, the Hulk and Clint were three stories below, discussing a missing doughnut. Both were leaning close to the other, glaring in to each other's eyes. However arguing became difficult when a big ball of wobbly something appeared right next to them.

"What on earth is that?" asked Clint. The wobbly something, was a huge ball of swirling colours. There was something odd about it, other than its appearance. It was as if it wasn't really there. It made no sound and there was nothing about it that Clint could _feel_.

"Maybe it's your doughnut," said the Hulk, smiling.

"That doesn't even make sense," complained Clint, turning to the Hulk once again. Then without warning, the ball moved. It surrounded them and Clint felt a change in the air pressure. His ears popped and he felt a sudden rush of cold air. And then, it vanished.

The ball of colours dissipated to reveal a room very different from the one they had been standing in. The Hulk and Clint looked around to discover multiple pairs of eyes staring at them. People dropped their belongings in shock. Stacks of paper fell to the floor in a messy flutter. The sight of a huge green monster usually met the same reaction wherever they went.

"Ghost!" someone screamed. And thus began the chain reaction of fearful yells and stampeding people. Clint inspected the wall behind them and his eyes widened.

"We gotta get out of here," he warned.

"Why?" asked the Hulk, as if screaming women wasn't enough of a reason.

"Because we materialised in the middle of a bank," said Clint sternly. The two ran from the building, almost hitting an old man who exclaimed "Ghosts!" when he saw them.

"Why does everyone think you're a ghost?" asked Clint.

"He meant you too," the Hulk pointed out. Clint frowned before bolting away.

"Come on," he yelled over his shoulder, "we need to find somewhere to hide till we figure this out."

...

Back at the Avengers mansion, Reed was struggling with the possibility that the angle of the laser could very well have been wrong. "I'm telling you," complained Janet, "one minute those two are arguing over dessert or something, the next they're gone in a puff of smoke."

Reed and Tony both worked away at their computers, trying to figure out what had happened. "Wasp, did you actually see anything?" asked Reed.

"Well, no," she said, pouting a little, "but I heard them well enough."

"If they both have their Avenger's cards on them, we might be able to establish a connection," said Tony.

"Why don't you just get this thing going again and we'll go in after them?" suggested Janet, leaning against the machine's panels. Tony, worried about what she might have her hand on, stood up and gently pulled her away.

"The portal's not stable yet," said Tony, looking in to her eyes and holding her shoulders. "We need to make sure it's safe before anyone else steps in and disappears. So for now, my main priority is getting contact and making sure they're okay."

...

Danny flew over the rooftops, enjoying the day's sun. He wondered for a moment if ghosts could get sunburn, then shrugged his shoulders, not caring. "Aah it's so nice to be out on a day like this," he said to himself. "Taking in the sights of the town and the song of the birds and the... screams?"

Danny looked at the street below and spotted a huge green ghost. It appeared that he had managed to empty the street. Cars had been abandoned and all signs of people were absent, other than the screams as they continued to run away. Danny flew down to hover in front of the beast. He had never seen a ghost like it. He was huge with muscles the size of beach balls. He wore nothing but shorts, even his feet were bare and his mouth was pulled in to a sneer.

"I was gonna catch a movie," said Danny, "but I guess you'll have to do for this afternoon's entertainment."

"I wouldn't count on it," came a voice to his left. Danny twisted in the air to see a man dressed in purple, holding a bow and arrow, aimed directly at him. "He's not much fun when he's angry."

''''''''''''''''''

AN: The formatting isn't quite as sleek as I was hoping, I was finding the editor a bit iffy. Anyhoo, I had fun, hope you did too. Let's do this again some time :)


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Clint had the bow string pulled back to his ear, offering him the familiar sound of its stretch. He stared down the length of the arrow to look at his target. He was just a boy, white haired and floating in mid air but still a boy. Clint gently corrected his aim so that the arrow would hit his shoulder.

"Just let us be on our way kid," said Clint, "and we won't hurt you."

"Sorry but dealing with ghosts is kind of my thing," the boy replied. Like too many kids his age there was a certain cockiness to his attitude.

_Ghosts._ What was everyone's apparent obsession with ghosts? When the Hulk went anywhere his presence was met with crazed reactions but never before had his lumbering bulk brought about the word "ghost".

"So you won't just let us pass?" Clint tried one more time.

"Nope," said the boy, crossing his arms. Clint loosed the arrow only to watch it pass harmlessly through the boy as if he wasn't even there. The Hulk chuckled.

"Looks like your aim isn't as good as you thought," said the Hulk.

"No it passed through!" complained Hawkeye. "How can you do that? What are you? A mutant?" At this the boy's reaction was similar to their own when ghosts were mentioned.

"Pfft no," he said, "you're talking to Danny Phantom. You know, a ghost." By his tone Clint half expected that sentence to end with a mocking "duhhh."

At this moment the Hulk got bored of talk. He ran forward, fist raised. Clint yelled out. The Hulk dropped his fist through the air and like Clint's arrow, it come in to contact with nothing. Instead his momentum carried him through the boy named Danny before stumbling to a stop.

Danny laughed and spun in the air. "My turn," he called. He then raised his hands and a green light shot out from them and hit the Hulk's back. It did nothing. The Hulk turned back around to glare at the boy.

This seemed to surprise Danny. His face went from one of confidence to mild panic. "You're not a ghost," he said. "I thought my ghost sense was on the fritz but it's not. What are you?"

The sound of distant sirens worked as a reminder to them all that they couldn't stay in the street forever. Clint stepped between Danny and the Hulk, put away his bow and held up his hands.

"Look kid, we're not the bad guys. We just need help figuring out where we are. Something happened to us. One minute we were in New York and then suddenly we're here, wherever here is."

The sirens were getting louder all too quickly. "Police?" asked the Hulk.

"Worse," said Danny, "my parents."

"What?" questioned Clint.

"Uhm, I mean, never mind," he said in a rush. Danny landed on the ground. "Anyway, I guess even if you're not ghosts I should still keep an eye on you."

"Can you do that while you help us hide?"

Danny dived past them and ran. He led them to an alley, to temporarily get off the street. The alley was sadly bare of skips or other useful hiding places but it was at least in the shadows.

"Hiding you might not be so easy," said Danny. "You're dressed in bright purple," he gestured to Clint, "and you're huge and green."

"You're right," said Clint. He held his chin between his thumb and finger as he thought. He turned to look at the Hulk. "Listen, we need Bruce. Not only is he easier to hide, but we could kinda use his help to figure out what happened to us."

The Hulk looked unimpressed. Despite this his green faded to a pinker shade and his muscles began to disappear. He shrank down until a regular man stood before them. He bent over, trying to catch his breath. "Just give me a sec," he said.

"Cool trick," said Danny, "I've got a similar one." The corner of his lips twitched in to a smile. What followed was an impressive light show. His hair turned from white to jet black, his eyes seemed to dull. Then what stood before them was an ordinary human boy.

"Well, don't I feel like the boring one?" said Clint, frowning.

...

Sinsta padded through her empty halls in bare feet. Unlike other ghosts she chose not to float, preferring a solid touch underfoot. Her home was beautiful, filled with so many treasures. However for her these treasures had long lost all meaning. She cared for none of her possessions, or for how she lived. She cared for nothing.

An awkward screech was the greeting offered to her from a bird that flew in to the large stone hall. Sinsta lifted her hand to let it land delicately on her finger. "Interesting news my lady," said the bird.

"Is there anything interesting anymore?" she said, practically sighing.

"A man and a green monster appeared in the middle of a bank."

"A green monster?"

"Yes, a monster that is really a man. And both of them smell... new. There is something strange about them. One is an archer, with special arrows. The other is bigger than anything I have seen. And he is strong, very strong."

"Your opinion?" asked Sinsta gradually becoming intrigued.

"They could prove good sport however I would like to watch them a while longer."

"And why is that?"

"Because, my lady, I believe they are from another world."

...

Tony placed his hand on either side of the device and leaned in to it. His Avengers ID card had been placed in to a machine that they hoped would break the barriers between worlds and communicate with the others. "Come in, Hulk. Come in, Hawkeye. Is anyone there?"

Nothing. Tony glanced sideways at Reed, his expression one of complete focus. He looked the other way to Janet and Steve Rogers. Janet nodded for him to keep trying. Her hands were clutched to her throat.

"Hello, hello. This is Iron Man, can anyone hear me?"

"_Tony?_" Everyone turned to each other and smiled with relief. Tony however, frowned, knowing the voice to be neither Clint nor Hulk.

"Bruce?"

"_Yeah, we switched places until we could figure this out._"

"All right, I'll explain as much as I can just in case the connection fails." Tony leaned in closer to the card and spoke quickly and clearly. "Reed and I were working on a Trans-Dimensional Wormhole. Unfortunately it appeared about three stories lower than it was meant to. It turns out the laser was at the wrong angle." Tony raised an eyebrow and grinned at Reed, not being able to help himself. Reed wasn't the type of man to roll his eyes but Tony could tell he wanted to.

"You've been transported to another dimension, we're working on the machine to get you back. But for now, is there a way you can set up a video link where you are? Do you have access to equipment?" It was a long shot. With an infinite number of dimensions it was very possible they'd been transported to a deserted rock floating through space.

"_Actually,_" said Bruce. "_That doesn't sound too impossible._" From his tone of voice Tony could practically hear Bruce Banner smirking. Because what Tony didn't know is that his two Avengers had met a boy, a boy with parents that happened to have a laboratory in their basement. "_This isn't my field of expertise so you'll have to walk me through it._"

At this point another voice came through the card. "_And it's on to the science geek stuff already," _said Clint_, "jeez, he didn't even ask if we were okay._"

"He's got a point there Tony," said Janet, punching him in the arm. "And Hawkeye, I at least, wanted to know if you were all right."

"Okay, can everyone be quiet now?" moaned Tony, "we've got work to do."

...

A.N. : I might be enjoying this a little too much. Chapter 3 is already written and boy are you guys in for a treat :D

Also thank you to Ahh I'm On Fire , jeanette9a, Fantasy-Mania31 and Battler127 for reviewing, it's greatly appreciated. And thanks to everyone that put this on their watch list, I'm rather flattered.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Okay," said Danny as he descended the stairs in to the basement. "I now officially owe my sister a _lot_ of favours. And I mean, like five Christmas's worth of presents." Clint and Bruce couldn't help themselves, laughing at his predicament.

"How come?" asked Bruce, his manner gentle.

"Since this is going to take quite a lot longer than we originally thought Jazz has managed to get my parents out of town for the whole weekend."

"That doesn't sound so bad," said Clint, folding his arms.

"By agreeing to go ghost hunting with them," said Danny drily. It was activity he had had the "pleasure" of going through himself. And he hoped it would be a long time before having to do it again.

When Danny had first brought Clint and Bruce to his home, he had asked Jazz to keep watch by the basement door. But it didn't take long for their dad to want to get back to the basement. So she had suggested the one thing that was sure to get them out of the house.

After a few hours of following directions from their friend Tony, Bruce had almost finished setting up the video link. He was knelt on top of the desk with his body bent over the monitor to fiddle with the wires at the back. With one final adjustment, the monitor lit up between Bruce's legs.

"Hey, it's on!" said Clint, excitedly. Bruce lowered himself down and all of them gathered around the screen. Danny was especially eager to put a face to the voice. The first face they saw was Janet, waving at the screen and smiling at them all. Steve was also there, in the background, amused by Janet's antics.

"All right Wasp, that's enough," said Tony. He pushed her slowly out of view. She pouted sadly as he did so. "Okay guys, so what happened?" He positioned himself directly in front of the screen. Janet peered curiously over his shoulder. "This wasn't meant to happen, but I gotta say, I'm intrigued to find out about this other dimension."

"Another dimension," Bruce echoed, "I wanted to ask, Tony. Another dimension is likely to have different rules, am I right?"

"Yes," said Tony slowly.

"Would it be possible that in another dimension ghosts could exist?" Bruce asked the question as if he were asking something plain and straight forward. Danny felt almost offended, until he remember that there had been a time when even in Amity Park when people didn't believe in ghosts.

"Oh ghosts exist all right," said Steve Rogers, so certain in his knowledge. He stepped in closer, though never quite taking centre stage. "I've seen them myself once and trust me, they're very real."

"All right," said Tony, "that got serious fast."

"This is no joke," said Steve.

"I never said it was."

"Why don't you meet our friend?" Clint loudly interjected. He steered Danny by the shoulders, so that he was in view for the others. "This is Danny, the first fourteen year-old to beat the Hulk in a fight."

"I'm not sure I _beat_ him" confessed Danny, "but I'd like to think I had him stumped." Clint then shoved an elbow in to his side.

"Go on," he said, "show 'em what you can do." Though Danny wasn't totally against a chance to show off, he wondered if these people would be even impressed. Clint and Bruce had told him something of their world. A world where so many people had powers. It had been the reason it took them so long to get the whole "ghost" thing. In their world, powers like his wouldn't be entirely unusual.

Danny stepped back and let the transformation happen. He could see everyone crowding around the screen to get a look. Once he was a ghost again, he floated in to the air before diving through the floor and flying back up again.

"An accident left him with the ability to actually turn in to a ghost," explained Bruce. "It seems strange but it's true." Tony had a hand gripped around his chin, watching with interest.

"It's a shame we haven't got time to set up another video link, I'd love to know more," said Tony.

"I'm here all week," joked Danny.

"Buuut," he said, "I can tell Reed is eager to get to work so guys let's leave them to it."

Reed and Bruce were left to go through exactly what had happened. They then requested Danny's help in pin-pointing where they had arrived and how it related to where they were then. The day that followed was rather dull. Reed and Tony would set to work for hours at a time without saying a word. Then they'd stop to ask Danny or Bruce the odd question and then go back to it.

When night came Danny brought down some sleeping bags so that they could be by the monitor, should they be needed. Then after a rather restless night, the work was done. Bug eyed and messy haired, the three stood around the monitor waiting for Reed and Tony to turn the machine back on.

"Initiating sequence," began Tony, "in 3...2...1..."

The ball of swirling colours appeared in the middle of the room. Clint's face lit up and even Bruce allowed himself a small smile. "You did it brainiacs," said Clint, "we're coming home." Unfortunately life isn't always so simple.

Just as Clint moved to step towards it, the ball slowly drifted towards the other side of the room. Danny's heart pounded in his chest and he experienced a sudden moment of panic. It was moving towards the Ghost Portal.

"Oh no," said Danny, mostly to himself. He then ran to the monitor and yelled. "Turn it off!" His hands gripped the screen in desperation. Clint and Bruce stared at him, their expressions filled with worry.

It was too late. The ball touched the barrier of the Ghost Portal and the room filled with a white light. For a minute the three of them clutched at their eyes, blinded by the light, until at last the light faded. As Danny's sight returned he looked to the portal. The door was open but the portal itself looked strange. It kept alternating in colour from green to purple.

"Um, what just happened?" asked Clint, his voice sounded so small.

"_Something's gone wrong,_" came Tony's voice. "_Ghosts are flying out of it! Where are you?"_

"Sounds like they need us," said Bruce, unable to look away from the portal. _No,_ Danny thought to himself. The Hulk couldn't land a punch to a ghost that stayed intangible. And Hawkeye's arrows were just as useless. _They need me._

_..._

__AN: The shortest chapter so far but it was a nice place to end. Annoyingly this means I've caught up with what I've written so far. The last chance I got to do some writing (when I didn't have a horrible flu virus attacking me) I used it to work on my novel. But fingers crossed I won't be too long with chapter 4

And again thanks to everyone who favourited, reviewed or added to their story alerts


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Tony Stark was suited up and ready for action. He had been standing guard by the portal for almost an hour, waiting for the others to come through. The connection had been lost and the only things to fly out of it were the ghosts.

The colours of the portal were ever changing and every so often it would vibrate wildly, accompanied by a strange warbling noise and whenever this happened, something came through. Tony hadn't fully decided what he thought these "ghosts" were exactly. He had attempted to analyse them whenever one appeared but they flew away too quickly to get a decent reading.

A door opened behind him and Hank walked in. "More portals have opened above the city," he said "Reed's analysing them now."

"How many?" asked Tony.

"It's hard to tell," answered Hank. He stepped in to Tony's view. He wore a white coat, typical clothing for when he was in "science mode" and his red Ant man outfit was visible underneath. "The numbers fluctuate because portals keep closing, only for others to appear somewhere else."

"Well let's consider that a good thing for now," said Tony, "if the portals keep moving hopefully that should keep the number of unwanted guests to a minimum."

Hank nodded in agreement before twisting his head to see the portal vibrate with activity. Tony clenched his fists. "Jarvis, get ready for analysis," he said. As always he was ready for a fight or scientific study.

The sound of the portal intensified and the colours flared as something jumped through. Tony's heart fell when he realised the enormous size of it. It leapt through the air and landed on the chamber floor with a loud bang. The floor shook with the weight of it and Tony felt himself relax as he looked up at the familiar green face.

Two more shapes followed, quickly revealing themselves as Clint and the ghost-boy Danny. All of them clutched strange weapons and devices to their chests. Tony's heart fell once more. Tony stomped towards them, getting angrier with each step.

"What on earth did you bring him for?" Tony yelled. Clint and Danny seemed perplexed by the unexpected aggression. "If he's here we can't close the portal." He turned on Danny and pointed towards the ball of swirling colours. "So hurry up kid and go back home." The plan had been to shut down the machine the second Clint and the Hulk were home. But if they did that now, there was no guarantee that the kid could get back to his own home universe.

Danny looked offended by the very idea. His shoulders hunched up in his annoyance and he flew higher in to the air to be at eye level with Tony. "I came here to help, you guys don't know the first thing about fighting ghosts but I do. And here," he said, throwing the contents of his arms at Tony. Tony awkwardly caught the various objects. "I thought these would help."

Tony looked at the strange things, the first he identified as a metal container. Another was more obviously a gun though it was unlike any Tony had seen before. Danny floated closer and picked out the metal container. "This is the thermos."

"Oh that's great, I was just getting a craving for soup," he said sarcastically. Danny didn't reply to that and merely frowned.

The frown turned to a smile as the portal flared with activity once again and a ghost flew through. The ghost was a strange looking man that looked around at the chamber with curiosity. The ghost-boy rose through the air until he was almost at the ceiling. Tony watched, un-amused by the boy's antics, until the boy shot a ray of green energy at the ghost, sending it falling to the ground.

The ghost yelled out and rubbed at the place on its chest where he had been hit. It wasn't given the chance to recover as Danny swooped down and opened the thermos. Tony watched in amazement as the ghost was pulled inside the strange contraption, swirling in to it like water down a drain. Once inside, Danny closed the lid.

"We use it to hold them until we can send them back to the Ghost Zone," Danny explained. Tony stayed quiet for a moment, his pride not quite ready for telling the kid he was impressed.

"This Ghost Zone," enquired Hank, "is it the source of the ghosts?"

"Yep."

"Then that must be where these portals all lead Tony," said Hank. "Reed explained that the machine had somehow created a three-way portal. It's really quite fascinating."

"That's great Hank but for now, let's focus on closing the ones out there," said Tony, gesturing to a window. "So go back to Reed and keep working on it." Hank took one last look at Danny, hovering several feet in the air and then made his exit.

"And Danny," Tony continued, "mind if I take a look at your tech?"

...

Sinsta padded through her halls with renewed vigour. She had even started to clean her numerous treasures. Things that hadn't been touched in years had been cleaned to a magnificent shine. A large crow, the size of a dog, landed beside her and skidded on the floor. It flapped its wings to right itself.

"So what news do you have for me?" asked Sinsta, the ghost of a smile hinting at her lips.

"It's become rather interesting," said the crow. Sinsta waited for its next words impatiently.

"And?" she prompted.

"Danny Phantom appears to be helping the men from the other world. And..." The crow paused as if for effect. "there are others." Sinsta's eyes lit up.

"And what are they like?" She craved to know what these new creatures were like. The appearance of the archer and the green monster was the most exciting thing to happen for years.

"There are several of them, all with unique powers. They call themselves the Avengers." Sinsta practically cooed to hear the crow's story. "There's a man in armour, a demi-god, a wasp woman, a panther man. They are most certainly an amazing bunch."

"I want all of you to keep watching," said Sinsta, "and I also want to see them for myself so take this." She placed a ring of gold upon the crow's head. On the front was a green gem stone, the colour of moss. "This will let me see as you do."

The crow bowed to its mistress and took off down the hallway. For the first time in years, Sinsta actually had something to look forward to.

...

Within the Iron Man helmet, graphs and numbers were in constant motion in front of Tony's eyes. Ghosts may be new to him but just like Thor's "magic" it had energy signatures that could be read and analysed.

He watched Danny fly around the training room, asking him to use each of his powers in turn so that he could get a better idea of what ghosts could do. There was the ray they had all been witness to earlier, a shield, invisibility, intangibility and even a strange ghostly wail.

"Okay Danny," said Tony, "just hold still." He had a repulsor aimed at Danny, something the boy didn't seem too happy about.

"No way Tony," he said, waving his hands. "I'm not going to be target practice."

"Oh come on, it's only on like 0.5 percent," he promised, "you'll barely feel it." And before Danny could protest any further, Tony fired. The blast pushed Danny backwards a few feet but did nothing more than that. "Now I need you to turn intangible."

"Gladly," Danny grumbled. Tony fired again but this time the blast when straight through, just as Tony predicted.

"You see that's the problem," said Tony, "our weapons work to an extent but they're far from effective." Tony stepped towards a table with all of Danny's weapons laid out. He picked up the thermos and turned it over in his hands. "Whoever designed these must be nearly as smart as I am," he said, grinning behind the Iron Man helmet.

"My Dad did the work on most of them," said Danny, landing beside Tony. The Iron Man helmet parted at the chin and the front whirred away to reveal Tony's face. He smiled down at Danny.

"I think I'd like to meet your old man one day."

"I'm not sure you do," said Danny cringing at the idea. Tony laughed and smacked Danny on the shoulder.

"He can't be that bad," said Tony.

"Think bright orange jumpsuit," said Danny, "and you'll be a little closer to getting my embarrassment."

"Yeah stuff like that can be awkward. It's why I don't let Hawkeye out much." The two shared a smile.

At first Tony had thought the boy a little annoying, a product of his young age. But the more they talked and learned about one another, the more he found himself unexpectedly liking the kid. Danny had had to face danger alone when no one else could, an experience Tony was all too used to. Or at least had been before the Avengers.

"I just have one last thing to ask you," said Tony. Danny slumped forward, groaning.

"Please tell me you're not going to start firing things at me again," he moaned.

"Not this time," said Tony. "Would it be all right for me to take these apart?" He gestured to the gadgets on the table. "I want to replicate them if I can."

...

AN: Well I can't let this chapter go by without mentioning the awesomeness that is "Avengers Assemble" (a name change for the UK, since we have our own very British Avengers). I don't won't to spoil anything so I'll just leave it as a mention. In fact let's just call this a celebratory chapter in the movie's honour.

Thanks again to everyone that favourited and reviewed, it really makes my day :) And Alexandra Knight I decided to write this out of sheer annoyance that the only other DP Avengers crossover isn't even a story ¬_¬ But it's turned in to something really fun :D

Happy Avengers weekend everyone!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Tony Stark stood before the Avengers with Danny at his side. He was wearing what he had named the Mark-G version of his suit. It incorporated weaponry that would be effective against ghosts and a device in the arm to capture them.

Everyone had gathered together to hear the plan of how they would deal with the ghost invasion. They had already been informed by Ant-man and Reed Richards that the portals had stabilised, meaning that once closed, others wouldn't open.

"All right team," Tony began, "everyone has their job to do so pay attention. I'll be teaming up with Black Panther, his vibranium claws seem to work on these things. We'll be focusing on the highest portals on the Northern half of the affected area. Danny and Wasp will take the other half but Wasp, you'll have to wear this glove."

Tony tossed her a leather glove with netted matting covering its surface. "It will modify your stingers in to something that will actually work on the ghosts. Cap, your shield will now also be effective against them."

Steve Rogers looked to the large bracer on his forearm and turned the shield on as if to test it. He took a split second glance in Danny's direction that didn't go unnoticed. "No way are you testing those things on me," he complained.

"Don't you worry soldier," said Steve, "we'll get plenty of practice out there." Danny smiled at the man's good nature.

"Okay Cap, you're teaming up with Hawkeye and covering the ground," said Tony. "And Hawkeye, your arrows are still useless against ghosts. However Ant-man and I have made you some new ones. If you fire one right in to the centre of a portal and detonate it at the right time, that portal will close. That's your main focus guys, you can leave the actual ghosts to the rest of us."

A loud grumble emanated from the back of the group. It was Hulk, stood with his arms folded looking less than impressed with Thor stood beside him. "And what about us?" he pointed out, his voice a deep rumble.

"Your jobs are simple," said Tony, "get out there and make sure that no criminals try to take advantage of the situation."

…

Steve's motorbike whirred in to action and Clint looked on in dismay. "All the gadgets that Tony's made, not to mention my Sky Cycle and you want us to ride on that thing?"

Steve put on his helmet and sat on the bike's leather seat. The bike sank a little under his weight and Clint was sure he heard it creak. "I'll be driving so that means we'll be using my vehicle. Besides I bet you anything she's more reliable than your crazy flying contraption."

Clint slumped forward with a groan. He was about to sling his leg over the bike when Steve handed him a second helmet, a rather ugly brown affair with yellow stars. "Oh joy," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

A scream sounded from outside followed quickly by another. Steve roared the motorbike in to action and the pair went speeding out of the garage. Ghosts had filled the air of all shapes and sizes. To their surprise many of them weren't even remotely human shaped. There were animals, monsters, birds, giant insects and one or two that weren't shaped like anything recognisable.

"Remember, leave the ghosts to me," said Steve, riding past a pair of giant snowmen, rolling a car over. "The portal's are your task soldier."

High above them, near the tops of the skyscrapers, Clint could spot one or two of the portals. He watched as Iron Man approached each in turn. "On your right, Hawkeye!" Steve ordered.

They had driven in to a cross-section and a portal floated to his right, low to the ground. Clint shot an arrow to its centre and pressed the button on the bow handle to detonate it. Timing was crucial, if the arrow was detonated to soon or too late it would fail to do anything. Fortunately Clint was all about good timing.

Clint was flung to sideways and he grabbed the edge of his seat to prevent from being thrown off. "Hold on!" Steve warned, a little too late. Ghosts had flown at them from all angles and Steve opened up his shield.

They drove in a circle while Steve smashed his shield in to any ghost that dared to come nearby. Before he could do anything, Clint felt himself being lifted off the bike. Something had grabbed him under the arms and was lifting him in to the air as it chuckled obnoxiously.

Steve threw his shield, narrowly missing the top of Clint's head and knocking the ghost out of the sky. Clint hit the ground with a roll and once upright again ran to the bike, jumping back in to place. "Well that's one. But why don't we pick up the pace a bit?" asked Clint.

…

Tony and T'challa were making excellent progress. Tony would fly high above the rooftops, zapping every ghost in sight. Occasionally his blasts would shoot harmlessly through the ghosts and when that happened T'challa was there to attack whatever Tony missed.

They had managed to co-ordinate themselves to work by areas. First would come the attack, then would come Tony's "arm thermos" and finally Tony would use a gizmo to close the nearest portal. But with three different jobs to do Tony quickly found himself overwhelmed.

A swarm of ghostly bees surrounded him and before he could so much as switch to attack mode, T'challa was there to deal with them. He flipped from the rooftops and swiped with his claws. It hurt Tony's pride a little that someone with so little tech was having to save his hide.

"You are trying to do too much," the Black Panther warned when the area was clear. "Leave the attacking to me. Collect these monsters with one arm and close the portal with the other."

Tony hesitated before he said, "All right." He was a little unnerved by having to put his targeting systems to one side and let his friend do all the work. There was much that Tony hadn't figured out about these "ghosts" yet. Worst of all, he wasn't entirely sure what would happen if one were to phase through him whilst wearing the suit. He would simply have to put his faith in T'challa.

…

The crow named Malvick glided across the sky with all of New York below him. Everything was in chaos, of the unorganised sort. This was not an attack with purpose, each individual and every clan or group had their reasons for exploring this new world. Some really did wish to simply take a look whilst others revelled in making these humans shriek.

Malvick did his best to stay clear of these Avengers as they slowly tried to empty the city of ghosts. The man of Iron and his black cat worried the crow the most. They had struggled at first but had soon found a new method of teamwork that had sped up their progress.

"Malvick, I have seen what I need to," came Sinsta's voice. Her voice travelled from the crown on his head to permeate in to his mind. Every word was met with a sharp pain, and he hoped this conversation wouldn't leave him with a headache. "Malvick, bring me the Half Ghost."

...

Author's Note: I apologise for the lo-hoooong wait for this. And I'm going to warn you now that it will probably be another long wait for the next chapter. I've been writing two separate books amongst other writing projects so writing time generally goes towards other things.

But on a lighter note, I hope you enjoyed it and I want to thank everyone who has reviewed and followed this story. Ciao for now!


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